The latest Ipsos MRBI/Irish Times political poll makes for a depressing read for Fianna Fail. In the wake of a number of blunders by the Fine Gael and Labour coalition, Michael Martin and the rest of the Fianna Fail party must be wondering what they need to do to get a boost in the polls. Needless to say, hours after the poll the public soul searching by some of Martin’s rivals has already begun.

How is it that Sinn Fein gain in popularity, while Fianna Fail’s support continues to stagnate?

Is the party out of touch? Is Martin the wrong man for the job? Did the collapse of the Celtic Tiger fundamentally destroy the base of what has been the most popular party in the history of the State?

“When you’re in opposition the only argument you’ve got is that it’s time for a change,” he says.

This is what makes the next election in the UK so interesting, he says. “Whatever happens there’s going to be a change. So nobody’s going to be able to do ‘it’s time for a change’ and nobody’s going to be able to do ‘it’s no time for a change’.”

The problem for Fianna Fail is that they are essentially seen as part of the establishment, whether they are in opposition or not. Telling the electorate that they are the party to deliver change simply won’t wash with the public, no matter who the leader is at the moment. The fundamental reason for Sinn Fein’s gradual rise in popularity is that more people are seeing them as the only real alternative.

This is also what will make the next election so interesting to watch. It would be in Sinn Fein’s best interests to stay out of Government for as long as possible. They will be faced with a real gamble – take the reins of power and potentially see their popularity crumble like a castle with foundations built on sand over five years. Or alternatively hold off for the same period to underline their position as the only political alternative, whilst praying that the continued turnaround in Ireland’s economic fortunes does not lead to the public repaying Fine Gael with their loyalty.

This anti-racism campaign is inspired. In order to highlight the prevalence of racism in Spanish football, two Barcelona players had planned to eat the next piece of fruit thrown at them during a match. Dani Alves kicked off the campaign in the clip below, which was followed up by a series of posts by numerous players and fans. You can read more about the campaign here.

This is how you deal with racism. Dani Alves picks up a banana thrown at him and eats it. What a legend! https://t.co/pD6ZQIIz0E

Paddy Power has been all over David Moyes’ reign as manager of Manchester United, eventually culminating in his dismissal. Their two best stunts involved having a grim reaper in the crowd at the Everton game that proved to be his eventual undoing and erecting a statue of David Moyes outside Anfield.

With the World Cup around the corner, Paddy Power has moved on from David Moyes to try and solve the mystery of how England can win the World Cup. Paddy Power commissioned Stephen Hawking to analyse the key factors which have affected England’s World Cup performances in their 45 finals games since 1966. The resulting scientific model was then used to help predict the probability of England winning key matches in Brazil this summer. Although it’s similar in nature to a Ladbrokes stunt from a few years ago, it garnered wall-to-wall coverage.

Paddy Power’s most inspired stunt, however, has been tricking the public to believe that they had cut down tries in the rain forest to carve out a message of support for the English football team. Marketing.co.uk has the full back story.

Although Nigel Farage led UKIP to some success in the recent European and local elections, he came under some media scrutiny, particularly around employing his German wife as his private secretary. Xpat jobs, a recruitment site, put up an ad for the job, which led to hundreds of applications and some column inches for the company.

Vincent Ryan has moved from the Irish Examiner to the Sunday Times business desk.

Padraic Halpin is now Dublin bureau chief for Thomson Reuters after the departure of Sam Cage.

A number of appointments have been announced at the Irish Independent. Kevin Doyle and Donal O’Donovan have been appointed as the news editor and deputy business editor respectively. Cormac Bourke has been appointed as executive editor and will, according to the paper, “play a key role in day-to-day news generation” and “also be involved in strategic planning in the context of a digital first newsroom and overseeing special investigations.“